Historian: Germany's business ties to Russia delayed Ukraine aid
Franziska Davies, a historian at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, said Germany's close business and political ties to Russia, including the Nord Stream 2 project, contributed to delays in providing decisive support to Ukraine after Russia's full-scale invasion. She cited an unwillingness among German politicians to admit the harm of their pre-2022 Russia policy and a widespread notion of an "invincible Russia" as additional factors. Fear of nuclear escalation, which Davies said Russia deliberately fueled, also played a significant role.
Germany's close business and political ties to Russia, including the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, contributed to delays in providing decisive support to Ukraine after Russia's full-scale invasion, according to Franziska Davies, Associate Professor at the Department of Eastern and Central Eastern European History at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.
In an interview with Ukrinform, Davies said that while business ties were not the only factor, they were significant. "Without a doubt, this is one of the factors. But I do not think it was the only one or necessarily the most important. We are talking about a culture of memory, and that is important. But we also know that there were close ties between politics and business – just think of Nord Stream 2. So, there were also structurally problematic relations with Russia," Davies said.
Davies emphasized that many German politicians "found it difficult to admit how harmful their own policy toward Russia had been before 2022." She added: "More decisive support for Ukraine would have required much deeper self-criticism. And there was no willingness for that."
The historian also pointed to a widespread notion in Germany of an "invincible Russia" as a contributing factor. "As a historian, I can say this is clearly false. In history, we have examples of Russian defeats, and there are many of them," Davies said.
Fear of nuclear escalation also played a significant role, according to Davies. "A significant role was also played by the fear of nuclear escalation – a fear that Russia deliberately fueled and instrumentalized. Putin knows Germany very well and is aware of this deeply rooted 'nuclear fear,' which some even call a kind of hysteria," she said.
Davies concluded that Berlin's hesitation at the start of the full-scale war was the result of a combination of factors: "a still problematic image of Russia, unwillingness to confront one's own policy and its consequences – including in the context of memory culture – as well as the idea that some form of understanding with Russia could still be reached without decisive military support, as the situation required, in order not to become too strongly involved in the conflict or act too decisively."
On April 14 in Berlin, Germany and Ukraine signed a Declaration on Strategic Partnership confirming Germany's unwavering support for Ukraine's territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders.